Banish Misfortune Read Free Page B

have failed in his bid to distract his father's attention.
    Quickly she ran a nervous hand across her dry face. Just what she needed—a confrontation with old Jasper's far-too-observant eyes.
    Of course she had no time to duck. She dropped her hand, raised her head and presented her cool, Snow Queen smile to her future father-in-law and current boss as he strode into her office.
    "There you are, Jessica," he said in an accusing voice. "Peter was trying to tell me some nonsense about you being tied up. This is an important weekend; I don't need to tell you that."
    "No, Jasper, you don't need to tell me that," she said evenly. "I'll be coming out to the Hamptons tomorrow morning, definitely before noon. I have a few things to clear up"
    "Rick Lincoln is coming out tonight."
    A small shiver of distaste ran across her backbone, but her face was impassive as always. "I know, Jasper. And he'll be there for the entire weekend. I'm sure I won't be missed for the first night."
    "I wouldn't be sure of any such thing, Jessica. You've handled this merger very nicely, very nicely indeed. Lincoln is ready to be landed like a fish on a line, and we need to be certain you don't let him wriggle off."
    Jasper gave her what passed for a benevolent smile, but Jessica wasn't fooled, even for a moment. No one had said a word, not even the slightest hint had escaped that anything more than corporate wheeling and dealing was expected of her. But somehow, somewhere she had gotten the uneasy feeling that she was the sacrificial lamb to be offered to Lincoln's aging libido, with Jasper and Peter Kinsey the benevolent bystanders. And the idea was destroying her almost nonexistent appetite, robbing her of her sleep, and stringing her nerves out until she was ready to scream.
    But damn it, it wasn't their decision. It was her body, it had always been her choice how she used it. And it still would be. She wasn't going out to the Hamptons until she decided how she was going to handle things if push came to shove. After all, what did one night mean when balanced with millions of dollars' profit, security and power for the rest of her life? She was more than adept at turning her mind into a peaceful blank when the situation called for it.
    "I know what's expected of me, Jasper," she said in the cool, tranquil voice that was one of her greatest assets, not sure of any such thing. "And you can trust me to handle this. Have I ever let you down?"
    "No." He granted her that. "But what the hell's keeping you from coming out to the house tonight?"
    Jessica's thin fingers clenched around the paperback book, and sudden inspiration struck. "I promised lilyssa I'd see her," she improvised quickly, always a nifted liar when the situation called for it. "Of course, I can always call her and cancel … "
    Jasper Kinsey had two ambitions in life. One, to found a financial empire beyond his most avaricious dreams. The realization of that ambition was tantamount to impossible, given the scope of his greedy fantasies, and his second goal was just as farfetched. He wanted to marry Elyssa MacDowell, a woman he'd coveted for almost thirty years. He was no closer to her bed than he had been when he first met her, when she was the child-bride of Hamilton MacDowell, but he never gave up hope. His almost doglike devotion hadn't interfered with his voracious sex life, but Elyssa was still a weak point in Jasper Kinsey's stalwart defenses.
    "No, no." It was an immediate about-face. "You go see Elyssa. But be with us in time for lunch, Jessica. I'm going to have a hard enough time making excuses to Lincoln about tonight."
    "Have Peter make them for me," she suggested.
    Jasper gave her a sharp, suspicious look, but she merely continued her distant composure. "I'll do that," he said finally. "By eleven tomorrow, Jessica. I'm depending on you."
    "You know that you can."
    Jasper specialized in abrupt departures. Jessica sat there, watching the empty doorway, listening to the sound of his